Intrepid Studios’ latest Ashes of Creation stream reveals–and features an extensive preview of–the Bard class.
When we say extensive, we mean the stream is nearly two hours long. Still, there are some highlights to know about this support class.
The Bard is a support class, but there is flexibility baked in. The skill tree has three tiers and you can choose to mix melodies, dances, and songs to build your kit. As you progress and invest points into one tier you will unlock access to the next tier. In the demo, they show that The Bard's musical instrument is more or less a cosmetic choice at this point so you can just go with whatever you like best and it will just change the animations and sound effects.
Clerics are still going to be the primary healers, but bards will be versatile team players so you can have them help power up the clerics and all of the other classes but you can still look after your team as a bard. An ability like”Cheerful Melody” will heal your party over time and boost healing received. With “Epic Melody” you can boost allies’ movement speed. With another ability you can even heal yourself and your my allies in a limited capacity and apply a shield to a target. Support also means offense as well, and some of your skills can debuff enemies, and apply combat bonuses.
As a Bard you will have to keep an eye on the battlefield and always know what's going on. You’ll know what your team would benefit from the most To know how to strategize, time everything right, and offer the continued and sustained support that your party needs for success.
Intrepid also revealed a new weapon type, the Spellbook. Or rather they point to the floating weapon in the demo and formally introduce it. It floats, you can use its AoE capabilities, and instead of the player, this Spellbook is “the star of the weapon combo”. we get to see a bit of combat in the world, but they work in describing how the spell book complements The Bard's support capabilities.
On August 16th at 11:00 a.m. PDT, Steven Sharif will host a live AMA on Twitch, where he will answer questions on Alpha two, including a new launch window, and an overview of the roadmap. The team is taking questions here until August 14th.
